Just Label It: Let Us Know It’s GMO

A tomato with the DNA of a fish, one fish with genes of another, corn that produces its own pesticide—and nothing to say they're any different than the tomatoes, salmon, and corn people have been eating for centuries.

Unlike many developed countries worldwide—such as China, Japan, Australia, and all the members of the EU—there is no law in the United States requiring food manufacturers to label their products as containing Genetically Engineered (GE) or Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

A new campaign by the organization Just Label It seeks to push the FDA to start requiring GMOs be listed on food labels—a move that 93 percent of Americans support. The project has generated 600,000 comments so far. It's a simple request, Mark Bittman explains:

Even more than questionable approvals, it’s the unwillingness to label
these products as such — even the G.E. salmon will be sold without
distinction — that is demeaning and undemocratic, and the real reason is
clear: producers and producer-friendly agencies correctly suspect that
consumers will steer clear of G.E. products if they can identify them.
Which may make them unprofitable. Where is the free market when we
need it?

April Dávila wondered what it would take to cut the GMO giant out of her
family’s life. She found that it was far more entrenched than she’d
ever realized.

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